Police still seek info on disappearance, death of girl

Oct. 10, 2012

Written by

and Sarah Okeson

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Following the arrest of a “person of interest” Monday in Fair Grove, law officers are still seeking witnesses who can shed light on the disappearance and death of 15-year-old Khighla Parks, the Dallas County Sheriff said Tuesday in a press release.

Sheriff Mike Rackley also said in the release that Parks, according to information developed so far, was in the company of several people when last seen.

“At this point, it appears Parks voluntarily left her residence in Willard, Missouri, on September 20, 2012, and was later observed with several people at a residence in Buffalo, Missouri,” Rackley said in the release. “This investigation is ongoing.”

Law enforcement officials arrested “person of interest” Anthony Balbirnie, 47, of Springfield on Monday after a chase that began in Greene County.

Rackley said in the release that Balbirnie is being held in the Greene County jail on a Benton County charge and on multiple charges pending with Greene and Dallas Counties. According to online records of the jail population, he was booked into Greene County Jail on suspicion of resisting arrest and creating a substantial risk of serious injury/death — which appear to stem from the chase.

Asked for more information beyond the press release, specifically to explain the reference to a Benton County charge, Rackley said, “We aren’t releasing anything other than what’s in the email.”

Public records however, reveal past convictions on drug charges.

In February 2010, Balbirnie pleaded guilty to multiple class B, C and D felonies for possession of a controlled substance, being a persistent felony offender, manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, and resisting a lawful stop.

He received four-, seven- and 12-year sentences respectively for the D, C and B class felonies but was ordered released on probation into a 12-step substance abuse program in March 2011.

But by September, documents show he’d violated the conditions of that probation. A December 2011 Board of Probation and Parole Field Violation Report listed Balbirnie as an “offender declared absconder.”

Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott said Monday that authorities collared Balbirnie following a chase that originated in Greene County about 5:30 p.m. It ended in Dallas County with Balbirnie’s arrest.

“(Balbirnie) was spotted on Highway CC in Greene County,” Arnott said. “We continued the chase into Dallas County.”

Authorities recovered the teenage girl’s weighted-down body from Truman Lake on Sept. 30 and identified her through DNA testing. They determined that Parks was dead when her body was dumped in the lake, but have not yet made clear where or how she was killed.